Begin Again
by Runaway Artist
Summary: The only way to save humanity and monsters, is a cross over timelines, and a glitch. A girl falls down into the Underground, and it's up to her and Sans to save the timeline, and SAVE everyone... Genocide route. May contain spoilers.
1. Fallen

_The last thing I remember..._

 _Darkness._

Laying in a bed of bright yellow flowers was a human girl. Something this world of the Underground was unused to. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she let out a groan in confusion. Above her was the hole in the mountain of which she had fallen through. She sat up, pain coursing through her body from the fall, and was surprised she was even alive.

It took a moment for the fuzz in her mind to clear, before looking around. It was mostly dark, aside from the light that reached down on her and the bed of flowers. Amazing how a small flower bed would be the only thing between her and a painful death. Finally, she stood up, trying to remember why she was here, if there was even a why. It wouldn't be the first time she had gotten lost and ended up in a strange place.

After a while, she was able to make out a door in the darkness, having to squint in order to make it out. She hurried over to it, looking at it suspiciously before pushing it open, and walking through, it shutting behind her. Empty. There was no one in this room, the only thing being a spotlight of sunlight from above on a patch of grass. Looking around quizzically, she started walking at the other side of the place to once again find a door, and went through.

She was met with a hallway, which ended in another door. So many doors, but she went through them anyways. this came to an entrance of sorts to somewhere. Cobwebs had started appearing on a switch, and a door lay open in front of her. As she walked, the only noises she could hear was her own breathing, and the sounds of her echoing footsteps. This place looked as if there was a series of puzzles to maneuver through to get to one room and the next, but they were all finished and led an open path through. Clearly, this place hadn't been used in some time, since there was a layer of dust and cobwebs over everything. It made her wonder what had happened here that caused this...

Getting through was easy since everything lay open for her, and in no time she came to a tree, which seemed to be the only living organism she had encountered since the yellow flowers, and even then, this tree was bare and looked like it had been neglected for some time. This whole place was creeping her out, and she wanted to badly leave, but had to press on. There was no way she'd manage to climb through the opening which she had fallen through.

Once more, she opened a door, and was surprised to be met with a small home. It seemed warm and comforting, besides the fact it was dark, and also looked to be neglected for some time. She felt as if she was intruding, but didn't know where else to go. Walking forward a little, there were a set of stairs that lead to what seemed like a basement, and figured she'd save that for last. Basements creeped her out more than anything.

She walked to the left, and saw what looked to be a living room. A large chair sat next to a fireplace, that looked like it hadn't been lit in a very long time. She hit the chairs cushion a little, and dust flew off of it in contact. She wiped off her hand on her jeans as she continued to the left, and met with a kitchen. It looked very clean and neat, even with the dust, and on the counter sat a pie, with a large slice taken out of it. She didn't know how long it had been sitting there, and decided it was best to leave it alone.

Retracing her steps, she now went to the right of the stairs, and was now in a hallway with doors along the left. Really, she didn't want to intrude, but curiosity overtook her, and she opened the first door on the left. It was a small room, that looked to be one meant for a child. It was actually cute looking, and there was a box of toys near the bed. She then moved to the room next to that, and this one looked to be a bedroom meant to be for an adult.. Maybe, everything was scaled much larger than any adult she'd encountered. On the desk was an open notebook, with a bunch of jokes, and one circled in red.

Honestly, these were funny.

She went to the last door in the hall, only to find it was locked with no way in. Oh well, must not be important if it was locked. Walking back to the stairs, she stopped when passing by a mirror, covered in a thin layer of dust. She wiped her hand across it, and revealed her face. She thought she'd look worse from the fall, but she didn't. Curly hair, black turtle neck, blue jeans and black boots, with brown eyes. This was her.

After a moment, she decided to press on, and walked to the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she walked down them. The corridor in the basement actually wasn't all that terrifying, which gave her relief. At the end was a large, purple door. It took some effort, but she got it open. Once more, she was met with a dark room, the center lit up by sunlight, and at the end, another door. She walked through, and pushed the big door open...

A burst of cold air met her, throwing her into a moment of shock and wanting to hurry back into the comforting house, which was warmer than this. No, she had to continue on. She had to find someone who knew where she was. Determined, she stepped out into the snow, the door closing behind her. No turning back now.

Just like the area before her, this place was also empty, other than the snow that lied on the ground. Her breaths came out in puffs of steam, and she wrapped her arms around herself to try to keep heat and stay warm. Being sensitive to the cold, this was absolutely terrible for her, especially since she was far under dressed for this kind of weather. It didn't take long before her whole body shook in the cold, and she wanted nothing more than to lay down and give up. But she had to go on.

Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her, which made her jump and whip around. It was the first noise she heard that came from outside herself. Terrified, she stood there, looking around. Well, maybe it was her imagination, creating the noise in order to put something into the world. Yeah, she'll go with that... After a moment, she turned back around, and started walking once more. The scare had pumped some adrenaline into her, warming her up for a while more, but it soon faded away, and she was once more left shivering in the cold.

A sign read, "Up ahead: Snowdin". She sighed in relief, glad that she'd finally be able to find a town, hopefully populated, and get some answers. Filled with new found determination, she pressed on, also hoping there'd be a nice, warm place she'd be able to stay in and hopefully buy something in order to keep her warm.

However, that plan didn't work out so well, when her foot suddenly met with some ice, and she fell. Unable to soften her fall, she hit hard against the ice, hard enough to cause her to black out in the snow..

" _Godda be careful here, kid. Can't have you dying here._ "

When she finally woke up, she was met with warmth. She snuggled deeper into the warmth, and wanted to fall back asleep. However, at remembering where she had been last, she decided she needed to wake up and figure out where she was. She sat up, looking around, and found herself inside a house. It looked quite lovely, and unlike the one she first went into, this one didn't seem too neglected. As she stood up, she looked back and saw she had been sleeping on a couch.

Well, if she had woken up here, it meant there was someone around, right? She most certainly would've remembered finding her way here if she had been awake. Also, she wouldn't have intruded like this, even if it would've been very tempting. Though she was dreading it, she knew she had to go back out and try to find something.

"Please, let me come back later," she said to the empty house, as she walked over to the door, before opening it up and walking back out into the cold. Luckily, walking over to the left, she was met with looked like to be a town. The first she came to was a library... Though, the name was spelled wrong... However, she walked inside. It wasn't nearly as large as she had been in others, but it was cozy and small, looking to be filled with just enough books to satisfy you for a while. Here, too, it was empty, dark, and full of dust.

This saddened her. Books shouldn't be left alone like this. Wow, heartless, she was more concerned for the books at that moment.

Because of how neglected the building had been, there was no warmth, but it wasn't as freezing as it was outside. She left, and continued on to the next, which was labeled Grillby's. Sounds like a restaurant, and she was filled with hope to find someone, or at least get something to eat. Her hope was crushed when she walked in, finding it in the same state as everything else she had come across. Shame, it looked like a nice hang out spot.

She walked past a house outside, deciding not to go in and invade another. She'd done enough breaking and entering for one day, even if everything was empty. That just left two more buildings. The next one was a hotel of sorts, and in desperation, rushed inside, to find it in the same state. Now feeling unnerved, she rushed up the stairs, mentally apologizing, and threw open every door to every room. Nothing. No one.

What was going on?

At first, she thought it was just because the entrance to this place had been abandoned, but now.. Even a small town, there should be something to tell her where everyone went. An entire town just doesn't disappear like this. Rushing outside, her last hope was the shop. She threw the door open.

Nothing.

There was no other rooms here to rush to, so this was all. Panic filled in her now as she went back outside, looking around frantically. Nothing, no one, not a single person, nothing to give her an idea of where everyone had gone. It was like a ghost town!

But wait!

She was brought here by someone, they took her into the house. A small drop of hope filled her heart, as she quickly ran back to the house, her heart pounding in panic. At the house, she opened the door, shutting it behind her.

"Um, ex-excuse me!" She called out into the house, panting heavily from running, and the inability to breath due to the panic setting inside of her. "Where is everyone? Why... Why is everything so.. empty?"

... but nobody came.

What had happened? Why was everything like this? Why was she alone in this place? How did she get here to begin with? Where was she?

She put her hands over her face, trying to catch her breath, but she was so scared at this point, she didn't know what to do, or think.

"You're quick, kid."

She jumped at hearing a voice. A voice other than her own, and looked up, eyes wide. Sitting on the couch was a skeleton, wearing a blue hoodie, and orange scarf. He had his hands in his pockets, looking back at her with white eyes that seemed to glow.

"You.." she said after a moment of trying to find her voice. "Who are you?"

The skeleton wore a constant grin, and he closed his eyes as he answered. "Sans. Sans the skeleton. This is your first time meeting a monster, isn't it?"

A monster? But, she was sure they only ever existed in fairy tales, much less a human skeleton as a monster. Well, then again, they were used for Halloween decorations, and were considered very creepy. But he didn't give off a vibe of creepy. No, he seemed more... sad, and lonely. And tired.

Finally, she nodded in response, but realized he still had his eyes closed, and gave a small yes.

"Maybe you should sit down. What I'm about to tell you will be too much to take in, you're better off sitting."

The girl blinked, before finally sitting on the couch next to Sans. Even when sitting, she could tell she's just a bit taller than him. She sat with her knees up to her chest, and her arms hugging them. She waited patiently for Sans to talk.

"You're in the Underground, a place monsters were forced to a few years back," he said, opening his eyes and looking at the girl, as she listened intently. "We lost the war against humans, and as punishment, we've been down here. There's more places to go in the Underground, but Snowdin is the first city you come by when arriving, other than the Ruins."

"Was the Ruins the place I came through to get here?" She asked.

Sans nodded. "It was meant to keep any human who fell there, and safe. She... She didn't want humans to get hurt, and built it to protect them." Sans let out a small, sad chuckle, looking down and away from the girl. She wanted to ask who he was talking about, but seeing his reaction, figured it was a bad idea for now.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked after a few moments.

"I.. I'm Alex."

"Alex... Well, sorry to ask, but I need your help with something important.."


	2. Empty

"I need your help with something important."

Alex gave the skeleton a questioning look, trying to figure out what'd he need help with, before nodding. "Of course, since I'm guessing you're the one who saved me."

Sans nodded in response a bit, before letting out a sigh. "It's sort of... cowish for_cated, but a human and monster soul are more powerful together than alone." Alex didn't understand what he was talking about, but figured that could be for later, after hearing what he needs help with. "There's someone here, at the end of the Underground who needs to be stopped. I can't stop them alone. They became too strong. It's a lot to ask, but could you help me? I normally... don't ask for help."

She didn't know what he meant by stopped, but from the way he spoke, it seemed to be very important indeed, so finally she nodded without another moment of hesitation. "I don't want people to be put at risk by them."

"Neither do I."

A moment of silence filled between them, before Sans finally stood up, turning to Alex, still seated on the couch. That grin never seemed to fade, even though she knew he was filled with so much pain just by looking at him. "Well, we have a ways to travel, so we'd better head out." Sans said to her, and she made a face in dislike at the thought of going back out into the snow and the cold. She was warm and fine right here. "Besides, it's dangerous to be in one place for too long."

Okay, that got her feeling cold in terror again, not understanding what he meant, but defiantly not liking it. So, slowly she stood up, and Sans pointed at a door upstairs with a boney hand. "You seem to handle the cold pretty badly. You can borrow one of my sweaters if you want."

Her eyes lit up in happiness, and wasted no time rushing up the stairs, throwing the bedroom door open and quickly grabbing an over sized blue sweater. It was warm.

Filled with new determination, since she was now able to keep warm better, she met up with Sans downstairs again, who waited patiently by the door. At seeing her all ready to go, he opened the door and walked out, with Alex following close behind and shutting the door behind her. The weather worked wonders, and she buried her face happily into it. Sans let out a laugh as they walked. "You really hate the cold, don't you?"

Alex nodded. "Don't you?"

"Well, I guess you can say it just goes right through me."

A snort, and then loud laughter filled the quiet space. Sans looked surprised, as Alex held her sides as she laughed, and it took a moment for her to calm down.

"I haven't heard someone laugh at my puns like that in a long time," he admitted, turning away from looking at her. For a brief moment, she could feel that his spirits were lifted, but it was brief, and it made her heart sink a little.

"Well, why? If you make puns like that all the time, then you're sure to get a lot of people to smile and laugh."

Sans didn't say anything in response for a moment. He put his hand up to the scarf, and adjusted it so it was covering more of his face. "I used to. That was the first one I've made in a while. It's kinda pointless to make jokes when there's no one around to hear it."

With him saying that, he just confirmed to her there was no one else around anymore. That must be lonely, being the only one left then. She then started to wonder what happened to everyone, where did they go? And that person who he mentioned that must be stopped, were they and Sans the only ones left down here? Did that person cause all of this to happen?

Having been so lost in thought, she didn't right away realize her foot no longer touched snow, instead it touched a darkened surface. Looking down, then back up to look at Sans, she noticed the change in temperature here. It was more humid, and warmed up a little, but there was no way she was giving up the sweater yet, in case whatever happened past this she'd need it again.

"This is Waterfall," Sans answered, knowing she must be wondering where they are. "Most of the Underground changes suddenly like this."

"Waterfall? Not much of a name."

"Our king wasn't too good at names."

"You have a king?"

Sans nodded. "Yeah, he was pretty okay, after... Well, he just wanted what was best for monsters."

Alex could tell there was so much she wasn't being told, and couldn't understand why. Was it because it was too painful? Should she ask about everything? Or would that just cause him to leave? Well, she guessed there was one thing she could ask about...

"Hey, Sans? What'd you mean earlier by needing my soul?"

Sans didn't seem one for answering things right away that related to the situation, but she just figured it was because he'd gone through so much, and was figuring how to explain everything.

"You see," he finally said, looking at her for a moment, "monsters and humans have souls, though each work different. A monsters body and soul are directly connected, when we die, we turn to dust and our soul disappears, however a humans soul can exist without the body. Monsters can use magic, in fact we are made of magic. Humans can too, but it's a little different."

Alex listened to his explanation, trying her best to follow along with what he was saying, and so far it wasn't too hard. It even seemed as if he had explained this countless times to someone...

She stopped walkingsuddenly. Sans turned and looked at her, before following the direction of her eyes upwards. On the ceiling was many, many sparkles, tinted a blue colour and shimmering.

"Stars," Alex said in awe.

"Nope," Sans shook his head. "Just crystals that loolike the sky. Though, many monsters did come here to wish upon these."

"I can see why," she whispered, staring still at the ceiling. "It looks so much like the night sky, but... it's not the same."

Sans said nothing more as he continued walking, and soon Alex followed him. The ground and all around was black, but the water nearby seemed to glow a soft blue light, and the shimmering crystals gave the place a bit more light, and it looked so mystical and enchanting to her.

" _What do you wish for?_ "

" _You'll just laugh!_ "

Alex jumped at hearing the echoing voices, looking around. Maybe there was more people down here! Though, her hope didn't last for long, because Sans just shook his head, and pointed to a blue flower. "Those are Echo Flowers, they repeat the last thing they heard."

The girl sighed, in both relief and disappointment.

" _If I say my wish, you promise you won't laugh at me?_ "

" _Of course I won't laugh._ "

" _Someday I'd like to climb this mountain we're buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around. That's my wish... H-hey! You said you wouldn't laugh!_ "

" _Sorry, it's just funny... That's my wish too._ "

She felt a sense of sadness fill her after hearing the conversation, staring at the flower. Now, whoever that was, wouldn't fulfill their wish. Everyone here was gone, and they no longer can reach the surface, no longer see the large, vast world up above, never see how beautiful the sky looks at night. It was so sad.

"Let's rest here a while," Sans said, having walked off ahead and found a small section off the path they were walking. Alex slowly went to catch up, the conversation once more playing behind her. When she reached the area, she saw him sitting down, his back leaning on the wall.

"Sans," she said tentatively, seeming to want to choose her words carefully. The skeleton looked up at her. "Can you... tell me what happened here?"

The skeleton sighed heavily, once more touching the scarf. "Sit down, kid."


	3. Soul

"You see, you're not the first human to fall through here. Not by a long shot.

Seven others have fallen down here, all at different times. No one falls down here for no reason, it might seem accidental, but in the ethat's was all meant to happen in some way. The first six... They were killed, in order for us monsters to try and be freed. When monsters were banished down here, a barrier was put up by several human magicians in order to keep us here. No monster could leave, nor human, but all could enter.

Our king, Asgore, he killed those humans in order to gain their soul, and hopefully be able to destroy the barrier and free us all, so we can all escape to the surface. Really, he had the best intentions, but didn't know if it could be done any other way.

Those six human souls were taken, and that's when the seventh fell. Everyone thought, 'Finally, we'll be freed!' ... But that's not what happened.

This human, they began killing monsters in order to gain LOVE. LOVE is harvested from monster souls, and they started to grow powerful. Everyone, they killed everyone that stood in their way, and even those who did not. They wanted power, they didn't care what they had to do to gain it.

That's why there's no one here. They killed everyone, and are now waiting at the end of this place, the end of it all, for you."

Alex listened, and was on the verge of tears, until the last thing came out, and her eyes widened. "Me? ...Why?"

"Like I said, no one falls down here for no reason, there's always something behind it. You didn't exist in this story till now, you somehow put yourself in, and that really pissed the other kid off."

She continued to look confused, not understanding how or why that happened. If shewasn't supposed to be here, then why was she?

Sans sighed heavily, closing his eyes. "Just by the look on your face, I can tell you're confused still. I don't know why here, suddenly, you exist, but your soul is what they want, in order to destroy it."

"What, but why? I mean, I've done nothing wrong."

"No, you haven't," Sans agreed, "but just being here threatens them. Your soul is something powerful, one unseen in humans, or even monsters without and other souls with you. Here, I'll explain more, stand up," he said as he also stood. Alex slowly did as told, now feeling like every corner around her held something deadly, something ready to kill.

A blue, transparent heart suddenly appeared in front of him, and his left eye glowed blue and seemed on fire. A heart also appeared in front of her, but this one was black.

"That right there is your soul," he said. "This is how you'd fight here, well if there was anyone. The size symbolises how many more hits you can take."

She looked at the heart in front of her, noticing how small it already was, however she realized just how much small Sans heart was. It showed nothing, but already she could see just how damaged it was. How damaged he was.

"Souls normally don't show up in black, that's why yours is special. In fact, a black soul hasn't been seen in any recorded records, it was always a conspiracy in both monsters and humans. No one knows what they do, thats why the seventh kid is actually pretty scared of you, they don't know what you can do. I don't even know."

The last part... he made it seem like he knew something. Like she was a complete mystery to him, when he spoke so certainly of everything else. His eye stopped glowing, and the hearts faded away.

"You... You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

"How can you tell?" Sans said, bringing the scarf up again and looking away, giving an empty laugh.

"For one, your soul." She said, which caused him to look up at her, looking surprised. "You give off some... vibe. You've seen many things, have felt loss more than once. Your soul is damaged. You want to give up, but... you can't.. Sans, why are you helping me..?"

The skeleton looked away, closing his eyes. She so badly wanted to reach out to him, to help him through what was troubling him. He saved her, but she didn't know how to return the favor. Maybe by helping him defeat the other kid, that'd help take off some of his pain.

"Get to sleep, kid. You're gonna need the rest," he finally answered, changing the subject. "You'll be fine, they won't leave and come after you, it puts them at too much risk."

"Oh, okay..." Alex said, realizing he wasn't about to answer. As she lied down on the ground, he said, "I'll be back in a bit. Should be before you wake up."

Sans left without waiting for a response, and she felt a sense of loneliness fill her. Since they were the only ones here, it now made her feel uneasy without him beside her. It was fine at first, since she assumed she was alone, but now it filled her with uneasiness. Well, can't complain now. Alex put up the hood on the blue sweater, and rested her head under her arm. Soon, she had dozed off, and was asleep.

"Where... Where is she? WhERE arE ThEY? HEHEHE I want hER foUNd, beFORe she gETS TOO strONg! STUpiD, USELESS, technOLOGY."

A shadow figure watched from afar, watching the tiny child move around widely, a knife kept in hand. The face of the figure was white, as were the hands which had holes in the center. The white face was cracked. They watched. As they had watched the girl, Alex, fall through, and lead her to the mountain in the first place. There was always a need for something **new** in a place that forever repeated.

"Sans?" Alex called out sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she sat up and yawned. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep for, but felt re-energized, and determined to help him now more than before. If she was so special, then there must be something she can do to help not only him, but also this place. There must be something that can be done!

"Right here, kid," Sans said as he entered into the small area as soon as she called to him. "I'm a second late, normally I'm pretty on time."

"Heh, apparently my special soul can fool people," she said sleepily one more, grinning a bit before standing up and dusting her self off, and stretching. "I'm ready to go whenever you are," Alex said, more awake now.

Sans reached into his pocket, and brought something out. In his hand was what seemed like an ice cream in its wrapper. He held it out, saying, "You haven't eaten in a while, I've been saving this, so it's still good to eat."

Hesitantly, Alex took the ice cream, but realized on the wrapper it said "Nice cream, the frozen treat that warms your heart." Unknowing to this brand, she opened it up, and found there was something written on the wrapper inside.

" **Thank you for all your hard work! Stay determined!** "

"They always have some kinda nice message or drawing inside them, to make you smile and feel nice," Sans explained, "that's why they're called Nice Cream. Heh, the guy who sold them had a good heart."

A smile spread on her lips, as she carefully folded the wrapper, and stuck it in her jeans pocket. The ice cream itself was blue, and after taking a lick, realized it was blue raspberry. t\That flavor always confused her, since no one knew what blue raspberry even was, but it was her favorite flavor.

"Thank you, Sans," she said, giving him a wide smile.

"Don't mention it, kid. What you're doing for me, and all of the Underground, is much more. Let's go," he began walking, and Alex followed along, eating the frozen treat. She didn't realize just how hungry she actually was, so she was really grateful for him going out of his way to get her the food. The silence filled once more, other than their foot steps, everything was quiet.

She finished her treat as they continued walking for what seemed like forever, but she didn't mind. She didn't expect the end to be so close by anyways.

Suddenly, she heard a shout, and this time didn't jump since she knew there was no one other than them. They both turned toward the sound, and realized it came from an Echo Flower once more.

" _Stay.. Stay back!"_ It shouted in terror. _"Get away from me! What.. What even are you?!_ "

After that, there was laughing, followed by one last shriek, and then silence from the flower. There was nothing more of the conversation for it to say, so it just repeated the shout in horror, and replayed the words. Alex felt a sense of horror, as she wrapper her arms around herself, trying to keep calm. Whatever happened... it was safe to assume they were no longer around.

Sans closed his eyes for a moment, before continuing on. Alex was frozen for a moment, but finally found her will to start walking once more, and followed close to him. He seemed so fearless to her, nothing phased him, he just kept going on. But, then again, to someone who has seen so much, he may not quite care anymore about what happens to him. That was actually... really sad..

Suddenly, Sans stopped walking, and sighed. They reached a part in the path that looked broke, leading them to a dead end. Alex looked down, seeing the darkness below. If someone fell, they defiantly didn't have a good time down there.

"Come on, we godda find a new way," Sans said, turning around and starting to walk. Alex frowned, and turned with the intentions of following him, but...

 **CRACK**

Alex froze, feeling the unstable wood behind he shift. Sans stopped and quickly turned around, looking panicked. It was too late. The ground gave way under her, and she felt herself falling downwards, into the darkness. The last thing she saw was Sans rushing over, trying to grab onto her but missed.

The last thing she remembered.

Darkness.


	4. Music

When she woke up, she was flooded with a scene similar to that of when she first arrived. The sound of rushing water gave her slight comfort, as it was the only noise to be heard, but at least it was noise. As she sat up, she realized once more she had landed on a bed of yellow flowers. This was a serious case of deja vu for her...

Alex stood up, looking around. She then looked up at the area she had fallen from, and cupping her hands around her mouth, shouted, "Sans!"

... but nobody came.

The girl sighed, and wrapped her arms around herself, looking around uneasily. Alone. She was alone once again.

The abyss was filled with water, and a whole lot of junk that seemed to have fallen down with the waterfalls. It was dark, but she was thankful for at least the sound of rushing water. It eased her a bit, unlike the complete silence that filled her in the Ruins or at Snowdin. The first thing she decided she needed to do was get out, and get to Sans. She breathed in, and slowly let it out, gaining determination. She dropped her arms, and started walking, even though she was calf deep in cold waters. she had to push on through and find Sans.

Was he even worried about her? Or did he just assume she had died upon impact? Well, that did seem logical, since it was a long fall, and anyone else would've. She didn't know how a simple bed of yellow flowers have saved her not only once, but twice. Better not think on it too much, it'd probably just make her head hurt, so instead she was thankful for being able to live from such a fall.

Also, Sans guaranteed her that the seventh child wouldn't come after her, so at least she didn't have that to worry about. She was completely alone.

Or so she thought.

The sound of music faintly played, just barely being heard over the sound of rushing water around her. Sans had said that they were the only two... So.. How can there be music playing? Especially since it seemed as if everything had been left alone for a very long time. She should be scared, but instead she rushed toward the sound of music playing. The source came from a house, blue looking with a red one next to it.

Gently, she knocked on the door.

No response.

Finally, she opened it up herself, and walked in. "Sorry for intruding," Alex called in, looking around. It was only one room, with a computer, fridge, and a television. The source of the music was coming from the computer. It was a soft tune, that sounded sad and hopeful at the same time. She walked over to it, and moved the mouse. The screen lit up brightly, and on the screen was a music player, which currently had the single track on a loop. The screen was dusty, so it hadn't been touched in a long time, but whoever owned this wanted this to play, and keep playing.

The track was titled "Hope".

Tears began silently falling down her face, and it took a while for her to notice them. Quickly, she wiped them away with her hands, a bit embarrassed by suddenly crying. Allowing the track to keep playing, she click somewhere on the computer with the mouse, and found the name of the one who owned this place.

Napstablook.

That was an interesting name, and it rolled off her tongue playfully, causing her to grin a little. Well, whoever this Napstablook was, she hoped they were okay... Well... She knew they weren't. She wished she could tell them how amazing their music was. If this was made by them, they were very talented.

Finally, she decided to leave the computer alone. In respect of the owner, she left the computer running, and the music on constant loop.

"Thank you," she said to the empty house, closing her eyes for a moment as she grinned a little. The music gave her new founded determination, and she decided she'd do all she could to make sure that after all of this, their music will be heard by more ears. They can live on through their music at least, and she couldn't wait to come back, and be able to show people.

She left the home, leaving everything as it was, giving it and the house beside it one last look before walking on. She needed to continue looking for Sans. Maybe if she continued on the path, she'd eventually find him, so she tried just that, deciding not to stay from the path in case she'd get lost. Once more, only her breathing and footsteps echoed the caverns, and she felt so alone once more. Alex thought back to the music, humming it out. The caverns echoed her humming, and made her feel a little less alone, as it seemed to be singing along with her.

The atmosphere began to get warmer, and less humid, to the point she actually had to take off the blue sweater, and she tied it around her waist tightly. Now she was kind of dreading the black turtle neck she was wearing, as she rolled up the sleeves to cool off a bit more. At least she wasn't in Snowdin anymore! She couldn't stand the cold, at least she could tolerate the heat, no matter how scorching it was.

A sign above her read "Welcome to Hotland". Sans wasn't joking when he said the names were pretty terrible and unoriginal. At least Snowdin was kind of a pun. As she stood there, trying to determine if she should head on or not, a shadowing unknowingly grew behind her, growing taller and towering over her.

"BEHIND YOU!"

Instinctively, Alex tried turning, but a pair of hands grabbed a hold of her. "Wha- Help!" She screamed, as it began trying to drag her away, fighting the hardest she could.

It let go suddenly, being thrown backwards. She turned to see Sans, his eye flaming blue once more, and his hand glowing the same. He was focused on whatever had grabbed her, and she turned to see a shadow figure, with a cracked, white mask. The blue faded, and it was free to move once more. It just gave Sans a look, tilting its head to the side, and then the other.

In a flash of light, a huge head appeared beside it. It pointed, the mouth opened wide, and a white beam shot out, straight at Sans. He shut his eyes, prepared for the blow, for the end.

And waited.

And waited.

He opened his eyes, and saw Alex collapsed on the ground in front of him. his breath caught in his throat, and he looked back up to find the head and the figure had both disappeared.

"Hey, kid! Alex! Wake up!" Sans said, rushing over to her and shaking her. His worse fear was that she had been killed, but gave a breath of relief when he realized she was still breathing. "Man, that was some hit, kid. Should've let me take it."

He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them back up. "Let's get you out of here..."


	5. Mystery

_I'm sorry. I didn't mean to harm you._

 _But **THEY** were watching._

 _I mean you two no harm._

 _My n a me i s..._

When she woke up, she was surrounded in light. She looked around, and realized she was on a pretty comfortable bed, and the temperature wasn't scorching like before. The first thing that came to mind was Sans, and she sat up in a panic. However, a stab on pain went through her, and she looked down at her arm. It was bandaged up, but she could see some redness seeking through.

No, no time for that now. Sans first. She realized the first time she saw his soul, one hit and he'd be done for. She quickly got up, and rushed down the nearby stairs, though her panic was short lived when she saw him occupying himself with something. Her rapidly beating heart calmed.

Sans looked up and over when she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Heya," he said, turning away. "Feel any better"

Alex nodded, realized he wasn't looking, and said, "Yeah, just my arm, I guess."

The skeleton pointed to a cup sitting in front of a desk that was piled with papers, and a computer on it. "Eat those. Those last a long time, so it's safe to eat."

She walked over to the desk, sitting down at the chair, and opened the cup. Steam rose out of it, and inside was some noodles and veggies. It smelled like chicken. Happily, she ate it all in a hurry, which caused Sans to laugh lightly and shake his head. "Slow down a little."

"It's sooo good," Alex said, smiling. The noodles filled her with new determination, and she felt like she could do anything.

"Oh! Sans!" Alex suddenly shouted, causing the skeleton to jump and look over at her in confusion. How're you? That thing tried hitting you, are you okay?"

Sans sighed and rolled his eyes. "Kid, you jump in front of a gasterblaster and you ask if I'm okay? Well, of course I am. If you hadn't taken that hit, I would've been done for."

Alex smiled and sighed in relief. "That's good," she said.

"Don't do that again."

Her smile faded, giving him a confused look.

"I don't have much going on for me, kid. Saving me like that, you just put yourself at risk of dying. Killing me wouldn't have mattered, but it's only you who can stop all of this." As he spoke, he once more touched the orange scarf around his neck, and she could feel the sadness in his words.

"I would do it again," she said, looking away. "No life is worthless, you can't just toss any away. Monsters or humans."

Sans buried his face more in the scarf, and closed his eyes. "Do you.. think even the worst person can change? That everybody can be a good person... if they just try?"

Alex blinked for a moment, before nodding. Wait his eyes are close. "Of course. I mean, if you really want to change, and try to be good, then I'd say everyone deserves a second chance."

Silence filled between them, as Sans said nothing, just keeping his face buried in the scarf, and Alex so badly wanted to help in whatever way she could. Did what she say hurt him more? Was that the wrong answer? "Did I say something wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

"No," Sans said after a moment, finally opening his eyes. "You just... remind me of someone."

"...Did they own that scarf?"

Sans nodded.

"You touch it whenever you need comfort. They must've been important to you."

"Yeah... Yeah. Heh, you seem to manage to be reading me like a book, kid. Nothing seems safe from you."

"I don't-I don't mean to-"

"I know, don't worry about it. That's good to have. Sorry to put you what you're about to face, but you're the only hope everyone here has."

Alex nodded, and said, "It's okay, I'm not expecting something good coming out of this, but if it'll help you, and everyone else, then I'll do it."

"...Thanks, kid. We can leave whenever you're ready." Sans said, letting out a sigh and looking over at her.

"We can leave right now... Though, by the way, what is this place?"

Sans chuckled a bit, sticking his hands in his pockets and started walking for the exit. "It's a lab an old friend of mine owned. She loved anime, and science. Also, she worked for Asgore as his Royal Scientist."

Alex followed him, making sure to stay close by. When they left the lab, Sans shut off the lights, and any air conditioning that had previously been functioning. As the door opened, the heat rushed at them, and Alex swore it was hotter here than previously. Actually, it was, because looking around, she saw lava everywhere, causing her to look around in disbelief.

"A bit different from Snowdin, huh?" Sans said in amusement by her expression as she nodded. "We godda make our way to the Core, and then we can finally reach the kid." After the short explanation, he began walking once more with Alex following, looking afraid of ever ledge in fear of falling down and into the lava below. She seemed to have a habit of getting into trouble, and then waking up in weird places. How many times has it happened so far? Too many, she concluded. Even the first time was too much, when she fell down into the Underground in the first place.

She looked over at Sans, and noticed he was still wearing his hoodie and the scarf, and she frowned a little. "Aren't you.. like, dying in that?"

Sans flinched a bit, but then let out a laugh. "Nah, I couldn't even feel the cold in Snowdin, so the heat here doesn't bother me too much."

"Lucky."

"Being a monster has its perks, especially being a skeleton," Sans said as he winked a little at the girl, who raised an eyebrow. "You know, I have a skeleton inside of me."

"I know, but that's not the same," he shrugged.

"I think it is."

"You're still missing the part about being a monster."

"I could be."

"Nah."

"You don't know that."

"Pretty sure I do, kid."

"Why do you keep calling me kid?" Alex said, giving a lopsided grin. "I'm almost an adult."

"Really? You're so short I didn't notice."

"HEY!"

Sans gave out a small laugh.

"You're short too! So how do I know you're not a kid? Besides, I'm taller than you."

"Hm... I see your point. However, I'm older than you, so I can call you kid all I want."

The light hearted bickering continued as they walked through the Hotland, navigating where to go without having too much trouble in the place. It was the most she had heard Sans laugh the entire trip, even if it was short, and at times seemed a bit odd, but he was laughing at least, and it made her smile and her heart feel just a bit lighter, and she hoped his was too every time.

Finally, they arrived at an elevator, and Alex looked at it, at just how far it stretched.

"We're almost there," Sans said, "we just need to take this elevator to the Core, and we'll see the kid." He walked over to it, and pressed a button, which after a few moments of waiting caused the door to open up. Alex looked at it nervously, and Sans could tell by the look on her face she was. "Listen, I'll do my best to keep you safe. If things get too crazy... I want you to go back to Snowdin. You won't be able to leave, but there you'll be safe."

The girl looked at him, and then shook her head. "No, I'll do whatever I can to end this." Taking in a deep breath, she walked into the elevator, and Sans followed behind. He pressed a button, the doors closed, and they were off to the Core...


	6. Determination

The elevator moved, and off they were to the Core. Alex stood in the small box with her back to the wall, leaning on it, trying to calm her pounding heart beat. It was scary, she was scared. She didn't know what would happen. If this kid killed every monster here in the Underground and gained so much LOVE, they must be nearly impossible to defeat by now. Why did Sans need her help? What could she do? She didn't even know how to use her soul or fight in battle. She was weak.

No, there must be something about her that was needed. She must be useful in some way, even if she couldn't use her soul, or magic, she needed to try and fight. Sans was putting everything into this, and she needed to as well. She thought back to that song inside the small house, the one Napstablook made, and it filled her with determination. Once more, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She'll make sure everything ended, and Sans got a happy ending.

"Hey, kid," Sans said, drawing her back from her thoughts as she looked over at him. "I just wanted to say thank you for all of this again. It takes real guts to go through something like this for a stranger."

Alex smiled, and said, "Well, you saved me in Snowdin, and kept going. I was a stranger to you. You said you normally don't ask for help, so when you said that, I knew that was more of a reason to help out."

Silence filled between them once more. Sans let out a small chuckle in response, shaking his head.

"Thanks."

The elevator came to a smooth halt, and with a ping, the door opened up. What was in front of them was complete darkness, and fear rushed back into Alex. Even Sans felt afraid, but they pushed through the fear, and walked out of the elevator. They kept straight, walking close together as to not get lost in the darkness.

Laughter suddenly filled the air, and all went cold. The two froze, now of guard.

"Isn't thIS EXciTING?" came a voice, distorted and high pitched. A single light appeared, and the two closed their eyes at the bright light. After their eyes adjusted, they looked back. Standing under a light from above was a child, that looked to be no more than twelve, with short brown hair, pale skin, and piecing red eyes. Alex's breath caught in her throat. When Sans said kid, he wasn't kidding. This was just a child, but they had done so much to the Underground. How?

"SANs, NEver thOUGht we'd mEET AgaiN HERE."

Looking over at the skeleton, Alex saw his eye had turned blue and caught on fire once more. "I couldn't just leave you here."

The kid laughed, and pulled out a knife. "REALLY? I tHINK you ShoulD HaVE."

A head from earlier appeared, it's eyes glowing white in the darkness. Its mouth opened up, and it shot a beam at Sans. Alex let out a shout. The beam faded, and to her relief, Sans was safe, and unharmed.

"What do you need him for?" Sans asked, a dragon head of his own appearing, the eyes glowing a blue similar to his eye. "I thought you were going to take over everything alone."

"He oFFErd to hElp, I nevER asked," the child replied. Behind them, a shadow appeared. Cracked face, hole in his hands. It was the same thing that had attacked Alex earlier.

"I killed you once, I can do it again," Sans said, and the head let out a beam of his own, this time the blast a blue colour.

The other one was about to charge and send another, when the kid stepped forward. "It's ALLRight, I KILled hIM here, I'm SURE HE'S juST aS PatHetIC."

Sans said nothing in response, just looked at the kid as if his look would simply set them on fire and kill them.

Alex stood there in confusion. Sans said he killed this kid before, but so did they... What did they mean? Sans had made it seem like when they first met, he knew so much about this child already. What was going on here?

Nothing could be done as Alex watched the fight fold out in front of her. Sans attacked with no break, countless sending something the kids way. At the same time, the child dodged each and every one of them. The heart that appeared in front of the child was read, and it looked so huge and indestructible, even if they got hit, nothing phased them, in fact they laughed at the pain. Would Sans be all right? Was fighting like this even the answer? She didn't want the kid to die, but she also didn't want Sans to die. What could she do?

Everything was a blast of blue, as Sans kept attacking, but just by looking at him, Alex knew it was draining to him. One hit, and he'd be gone...

"Please be okay," Alex thought to herself. "Don't lose."

Suddenly, Sans attacks grew stronger. The child looked surprised, and even Sans did.

"WHat-" the child looked over at Alex, and saw that a heart had now appeared, black in colour. This made them angry, as they laughed creepily. "DOn't you KNOW NoT TO inTERFERE with a fIGHt?" The child rushed at her, knife drawn. Alex was frozen in fear.

The knife reflected the light, shining. Alex could see the madness and blood lust in their eyes, wanting to spill more blood. Her blood. Alex took a step back, hoping it'd be enough to dodge, but the child got too close...

A flash of blue.

The knife swung.

Alex felt no pain, nothing. She couldn't even see the child at this point.

Sans fell to his knees, a wound from cutting down his torso. Blood leaked from it, and his mouth.

"...Sans?" Alex whispered, the noise tiny.

"Get... out," Sans said through the pain, gripping the wound on his chest tightly. Without warning, he turned to a pile of dust in front of her, and the dragon head disappeared with him.

Alex stared in disbelief. "S-Sans?" she said once more, sounding more panicked. She fell to her knees next to the pile of dust, the only thing left behind from him was the orange scarf, now stained with some of his blood. The child let out a wicked laugh.

"PATHETIC!" They cried in laughter, holding their sides as if this was the greatest joke ever told. The shadow did nothing but watch.

Tears began running down Alex's face, shaking widely. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her throat closed up. No, he couldn't be gone... He... He said everything would be all right! That nothing bad would happen! Liar! Why did he do that if she had so much more health than him! One hit! One hit and he was gone!

WHY?

Her hand reached towards the blood stained scarf, shaking madly as she let out sobs.

She was caught off guard.

She was surrounded by a bright light...


	7. Truth

The bright light faded, and she was back in Snowdin, except everything was different. There were other monsters, walking around and enjoying themselves. Even in the cold, Alex felt nothing, she wasn't shivering or cursing the snow. What was going on...?

The first thing she saw was a flash of blue and orange. Her heart skipped a beat, as she quickly ran towards it. "Sans!" She called out hopefully, reaching a hand outwards to catch him. He ignored her calls, and everyone else seemed to not notice she was even there to begin with.

"Brother, do you think the tiny human will be all right?" asked the taller skeleton. He seemed a bit worried, as well as unbothered by the cold even though he wasn't really wearing much. Seems as though skeletons really didn't get bothered by temperature.

Sans shrugged. "I'm sure they will, even with your impossible puzzles." He winked.

The taller skeleton let out a laugh. "They seem to have a great love for them as I! Though they will never surpass my trap of spaghetti!"

"I'm sure they'll be fool," Sans nodded in agreement.

Brother... This was Sans brother. So that's why he always wore the orange scarf, which she saw the taller skeleton wearing now. What happened to him? Did he... meet the same fate everyone else had? Well, of course. He had to, why else would Sans constantly wear his scarf?

Though, even here, Sans still seemed... sad. His soul was still broken, maybe not as much now when she was with him, but still broken, still scared from whatever he had seen through his years.

 _More than just years..._

A voice echoed in her head, and Alex looked around. The scene around her froze, nothing moved, all was still, even the wind. "Who's there?" she called out.

The tall shadow appeared, and his white face looked down at her.

 _Sans is a mystery as much as I..._

"What do you mean?"

The scene around her changed, though still in Snowdin. Now, in front of her, was the child she had seen earlier, though not as crazy. The tall skeleton and them were fighting, until finally...

The skeleton turned to dust after being hit with a knife, leaving behind only the orange scarf.

"No, no no, **PAPYRUS**!"

Alex turned around to face the sound of the voice, which she knew right then and there it belong to Sans. He rushed forward, and skid down to his knees at the pile of dust. The child ran away, not looking back. Sans grabbed the scarf, his hands visibly shaking, and tears ran from his eye sockets.

"P-pap..." he let out a sob, and held the scarf to his face. "I was... I was too late..."

Too late? What did he mean by that? Did he know this was going to happen?

The scene rapidly changed in front of her. A woman who resembled much like a fish turned to dust, a robot next, then a yellow reptile.

The scene stopped, and it was back to Snowdin. Alex instantly recognized the door in front of her. It was the one that lead out of the Ruins and lead straight into Snowdin. Sitting against it was Sans, with the scarf wrapped around him, and his hood up.

"H-hey, Tori... Why.. did the skeleton want a friend...? Heh... C-cause he was... feeling bonely... Heh.."

His words broke, and his laugh was empty. Tears ran down his skeleton face, and he didn't bother to wipe them.

"...The kid got you too..."

Watching every scene so far, even though she didn't know anyone else besides Sans, she felt her heart break more and more. Watching him cry, and everyone else being slaughtered brutally by the child, even the ones who wanted to spare them or be spared. This child... they really were cruel, weren't they?

Again, the scene changed, and this time it was in a hall.

This time, it was Sans and the child, staring at each other as if they have been here before, this exact same place...

 _They have... Many times... One timeline after another..._

Timelines? So, they've met more than once?

The scene changed rapidly, some with the child looking innocent, some with just a bit of madness, some... Some lead into battles, some with the child laying dead, some with Sans dead. Repeatedly. Over and over. Is this what he has to go through? This never ending cycle and never knowing if it will end happily or not? No wonder his soul was so broken and damaged, she couldn't imagine what kind of torture this was to endure every day.

" _It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming... On days like these, kids like you... **Should be burning in hell.**_ "

" ** _Dirty brother killer._** "

" _Sans, please, promise me that whatever child comes through this door, that you'll protect them... Please..._ "

" _I promise, Tori._ "

Always living the same scenes, with different endings. Some better than others, some absolute nightmares. How...? How did he live every day like this? Why did time seem to never stop like this for him? What was going on?!

Finally, everything stopped. Standing, was Sans, and a large, goat looking man. Alex looked in confusion between them both. On Sans was blood, but this time it wasn't his, and the scarf was around him like she was used to seeing.

"The human... has been killed."

"... Thank you, Sans. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Sans held out his hand, and in it was the red heart shaped soul. The other held out his larger hand, and took the soul. "...Finally, monsters can reach the surface. Find those who are left, and tell them we are saved."

"...Actually, Asgore," Sans gave a small laugh, looking up now. "I have something else to do."

The man, Asgore, didn't respond for a moment, but finally he nodded. "You have done much for monsters everywhere. Of course. Do what you need."

Sans left, and Alex followed after him, knowing she couldn't be seen or heard by him or anyone, but desperately wanted to reach out to him, hug him, but knew that would never heal is damaged soul. Sans put up his hood, and walked towards the white masked figure. "Let's go," he simply said to the other.

 _I had told him of this timeline... A timeline where the child had taken over... He wanted to save that timeline... Even if he died... I told him of you... Of how you suddenly appeared in this timeline... He became hopeful... And left his own for the one we are in now..._

A flash of light, and Alex found herself staring at the Sans she knew in Snowdin. He was walking behind someone, when they suddenly turned around... It was her. He had been following her from the start. She watched herself fall on the ice, and Sans walked over to her. They suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue.

"I won't let the same thing happen here," she heard Sans voice in her head. "Not again... The kid needs to be stopped... I can't let them get away with it if it can be stopped... Something different has happened... Heh, who knew?"

Alex felt tears running down her face, and she found herself surrounded by darkness. The timeline she was currently in... everyone had been killed, including Sans brother and friends. Even Sans himself. But he traveled from a different one, one that had better success, in order to make sure she'd reach the kid and stop them. Souls suddenly appeared in front of her, all different colours, and they finally took shape. The fish woman, a white goat looking woman, Sans brother, the robot, the lizard woman, Asgore... So many appeared in front of her, and they had no idea of the passing timelines, of how many happy endings, of how many times they died...

Finally, Sans appeared in front of her, with his permanent grin on his face. " _Thank you._ "

A bright light, everything faded...

 **SAVE THEM...**


	8. RESET

She was back at the dark room, hearing the child's laughter echo all around. Apparenly, nothing had gone on here, even though she had seen so many things. Is that what her soul was able to do..? Reach into others, feel their emotions, see their past and present? Their hardships, goals, everything?

No.

There was more to it.

"You won't die here," she whispered, looking at the pile of dist. "Not here."

The dust began to glow a blue colour, and the laughter stop. It rose upwards, and began taking a shape. Soon, it formed colour, became solid, and standing in front of her...

"Sans..."

The skeleton opened his eyes, and looked confused for a moment, before looking at Alex, where she still sat where his ashes had previously been. He looked at his hands, and felt around. "I... I'm alive?"

"Sans!" Alex cried happily, throwing her arms around the skeleton, who she was able to easily hug because how low she was now. After a moment of shock, he put his arms around the girl, hugging her back. "I don't know what you did kid, but thank you."

"YOU..."

The moment was broken when the child spoke, their bloody eyes wide as they stared at Alex in disbelief. They clearly were taken aback, having not expected any of this to happen, having not even expected Alex to even be able to use her soul, if they ever even found out what it could do.

"YOU SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO THAT. THAT'S CHEATING. NO. HE SHOULD BE DEAD STILL!"

The child raised their arm upwards, and a dragon head of their own appeared, the eyes red. It's mouth opened, and shot out a beam.

"No, I won't let you!" Alex moved so she was now kneeling, and raised a hand toward the blast. A black shield appeared in front of the two, blocking the blast and it went around them. When it ended, she looked down at her hand in disbelief and confusion. "Damn, kid, what are you running on?" Sans said, also clearly confused.

She stood up, looking at her hands, and then at the transparent black heart that had appeared in front of her.

"...Determination," Alex answered, closing her hands into tight fists, and frowned. "I won't be useless any more, Sans. I'll make sure this timeline doesn't end in destruction like you fear it will." She looked at him, and smiled, picking up the orange scarf, and wrapped it around him. That was more familiar.

Sans didn't know how to respond for a few moments, before he let out a chuckle at looking at the child, who was currently looking at Alex as if she were something that shouldn't exist, something terrifying. "Show me what else you can do, kid," he said, taking a step forward to be standing beside her, and his eye lit on fire once more.

"THIS IS MY TIMELINE! MY VICTORY! DIE!"

They shot out another blast, and Alex held her arm out once more, and the shield appeared again. Sans summoned three dragon heads, and they restlessly blasted at the child, causing them to have to dodge more than attack, which didn't seem to make them too happy. A hit after another, after another. Alex stepped in whenever an attack aimed for them, shielding them both from the blow.

All the heads blasted at the child at once, who let out a scream in pain, before falling to their hands and knees. Their soul was small, and Alex knew one more blast would kill them. Sans was about to end it all, but Alex held out her hand to stop him. He gave her a questioning look, but did as she wanted, shoving his hands in his pocket.

Carefully, Alex walked over to the child, who was panting heavily. They looked up, giving Alex the most murderous eyes she had ever seen.

"YOU... YOU RUINED EVERYTHING... MY CHANCE... TO TAKE OVER... WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? YOU'RE A GLITCH."

Alex knelt down in front of the child, and held out her hand. She gave them a warm smile. "You've been through a lot, too. I can tell by your soul this wasn't what you wanted. You wanted them as friends. So, why don't you go back? You can all be friends."

The child looked back and forth between her face and the hand held out to her. Their eyes bore no madness, instead it was replaced by pleading, by sadness, with hope and determination.

"NO!" the child suddenly shouted. "NO NO NO! THIS IS MINE! MINE!"

She pulled her hand away for a moment, looking at the child sadly. Alex closed her eyes, and Sans watched as souls appeared, first as just hearts, and then...

Toriel, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore, Mettaton, Papyrus, and Sans from this timeline.

"You want to be with them, to end happily," Alex said, holding out her hand once more to the child, who now looked up, and their eyes widened at seeing all the figures. "You can be with them."

"...I," the child choked out, looking at all the monsters, and tears began running down their face. "I didn't... mean to.. I.. I'm sorry.."

"You can begin a new, with everyone there, happy. Just go back."

The child let out a sob, shaking. They suddenly shot at Alex, their arms spread wide. Their tiny arms wrapped around her, crying into her shirt. Alex held them tightly, petting their hair lovingly.

The whole place shook, and then faded into white.

Alex opened her eyes, and the entire space was in white, and she was floating. "Where am I?" she looked around, trying to find something.

"When the kid resets," came Sans voice, and she looked in front of her, and saw him, "you won't remember any of this. Only the kid and I will remember what went on here."

Alex opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. There was a moment of silence between them, before she finally was able to say something.

"I won't... remember you? Or the Underground?"

Sans shook his head. "It was only that timeline you existed here in. You won't remember."

"But," her throat felt like it was closing up, and tears brimmed on her eyes, blurring her vision. "I want to remember... Remember you... I want to come here..."

"No."

"Wh-what..?"

Sans closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again. "If you remember somehow... Don't come here. I don't want you getting caught up in this all again. The Underground is no place for humans. You'd be put in danger. You've already done so much. Don't come back."

Tears slowly made their way down her face, no matter how hard she tried holding back. "I... I'll miss you, Sans.."

"I'll miss you too, kid. Thanks for everything. Maybe... Maybe this time it'll be different... Maybe this time there will be no reset."

"I wanted to see you happy. To see you... actually happy."

"I'm happy now. I get to see my brother and my friends again."

The light suddenly increased, and everything was getting hard to see.

"Thank you, kid... Alex."

 **RESET?**

 **YES**

NO


	9. Beginning

Humans and monsters once more walked the surface together. Humans were no longer hateful towards the monster race, and wanted to right their wrongs and welcomed the monsters with open arms, so the monsters adjusted to life on the surface with their help.

The human child, Frisk, was seen as a hero for setting monsters free, and introducing them to the human race. No one could believe such a small child could make such a difference in the world.

For some reason, this didn't come as a surprise to Alex. Instead, she actually had been having dreams of this day coming, so vivid and alive that when she woke up, she was surprised it actually didn't happen. Now, the day has come and gone of the day when monsters were welcomed back to the surface, and she felt a sense that she needed to find someone. She just knew she had to find someone. Ever since she woke up one day, and found a mysterious blue sweater with her, that nagging feeling of needing to find someone hadn't stopped.

So, how does one find someone, when the world was so vast, and now with the included monsters, even more difficult to find. However, there was another thing. Whenever she thought of finding them, she also heard the words, "Don't come back". She really didn't understand what that meant, did it mean the person she was trying to look for didn't want to see her?

... No. No, that wasn't it.

The monsters that came to the surface showed of their magical uses to the humans, who must applauded and watched in awe. Of course, nothing can be perfect. There were a few who did say that the monsters were dangerous, and needed to go back underground, but the majority wished for them to stay. It wasn't perfect, but they were getting there.

The monster king, who she somehow remembered his name without being told, Asgore, promised monsters meant no harm to the humans, and wished for the two races to once more live together in harmony.

Everything seemed great, like a happy ending straight out of a story book, however... The nagging feeling never went away as months passed with the monster race now living on the surface. She didn't know how to find them, if there really was someone she had to go and see. Though, fate had a weird way of working...

Alex bumped into the child, Frisk, and something set off in her mind. Them crying, begging to be forgiven and to go back... to RESET.

"Ah, I'm so sorry," Alex apologized to the child, smiling nervously. Unlike the images that flashed through her head, this child was unlike that one. Frisk seemed kinder, and smiled widely with a big heart. Frisk shook their head, smiling. Alex knew that the child was mute, or seemed to be mute. It was either that, or they were too shy to talk. "My name's Alex," she introduced herself, smiling back to the child.

Frisk then gave an expression of troubled thinking, before looking like they had just solved a mystery, or a puzzle. The child gently took Alex's hand, and started pulling them somewhere. "You... have something to show me?" Alex guessed, which was confirmed by the child nodding happily. "Lead the way then."

Alex followed behind, having to crouch a bit so the child could hold her hand easier and wouldn't be pulling on their arm uncomfortably. This day, Alex had the blue sweater tied around her waist, the nagging feeling for some reason telling her she needed to bring it with her out today. The day had been quite warm, and twilight was claiming the sky and turning the Earth into a golden colour. Stars poked from the sky where it was darkest, though the time for them was still a ways away.

Frisk lead them to a house, and Alex looked it up and down. It was a middle sized house, and looked quite cozy even from the outside. There must be quite a few people living in here to own a house this size, so she figured Frisk was taking her to their home.

Happily, Frisk let go and ran to the door, before throwing it open. Alex had frozen outside, so Frisk ran back and pulled her to the opened door to the house, where once more they dropped her arm, and ran inside.

"My child, where are you going?" Alex heard a woman's voice call out inside the house, though got no reply. Footsteps then came to the door, and Alex looked up at a large woman, who looked much like a goat and had neat, white fur. She resembled much like a mother.

"Oh, are you a friend of Frisk's?" the woman asked, smiling.

Alex stood there awkwardly, looking away. "Um, kinda, I guess..."

"Well, I'm sure Frisk shall be right back. What is your name, child?"

"I... My name is Alex, ma'am."

The goat woman laughed. "No need to call me ma'am. I am Toriel, it is a pleasure to meet you, Alex."

Toriel... That name seemed familiar, though not one she remembered too clearly. Why was that? Monsters seemed to have very unique names, so hearing a name like Toriel, well, it wasn't something common to hear, if at all.

Suddenly, there was a noise of tiny footsteps inside, and lots of scuffling. Toriel turned around, away from Alex, looking worriedly inside the house. "Oh, my child, do be careful."

"Tiny human! I demand to know where it is you are taking my brother!"

"Chill, bro. The kid must have some kinda reason for dragging me like this."

Alex felt her breath catch in her throat at the sound of a familiar voice. But... Where had she heard it before? A dream, maybe? No, no dreams normally don't have sound, at least as far as she could remember. Television? No, she'd know this voice if it came from some show. No, this voice made her heart skip happily, and the nagging told her "this is it".

Toriel stepped aside, and Frisk once more arrived at the entrance, dragging along someone, and another followed behind. They were both skeletons, though Frisk was dragging along a much shorter one, who was just a bit taller than the child. The skeleton behind them was much taller, even taller than Alex, and he wore an orange scarf.

Frisk smiled happily, looking back and forth between Alex and the shorter skeleton. The skeleton had rolled their eyes, before finally catching sight of what Frisk had dragged them to. There was a moment of silence between them, before Sans let out a chuckle.

"Hiya," Sans said, though sounding a bit awkward. "Sorry about the kid, if they got ya in any trouble."

Alex couldn't say anything. This skeleton, she knew his name right away. He didn't seem so sad this time, still broken but not sad. His eyes gave away some happiness, and her heart filled with hope. The last time she had seen him, he was so sad, destroyed...

"Sans."

The skeleton looked surprised at her, freezing.

"Brother! What is going on?!" shouted the taller skeleton from behind, clearly impatient and wanting to know. Toriel silently hushed him, curious as well, but knew the shouting wouldn't help.

"... You remember?" Sans asked, his voice unsure.

Alex nodded, but then stopped and shrugged. "Not... Not everything... Bits and pieces, but... just you, mostly."

Frisk hopped excitedly where they stood between the two, grinning so widely it rivaled that of Sans grin.

The skeleton turned around to the others, looking at him from behind the doorway, his right eye shut and laughed lightly. "I'll explain everything later, but I godda go out for a bit. That cool?"

"Of course, Sans," Toriel nodded, smiling and clasping her hands together. "You two just be sure to be careful, it is almost nightfall."

"BROTHER I DEMAND TO KNOW RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" The taller skeleton shouted more impatiently, and Alex flinched a bit at the loudness of his voice. "Calm down, Papyrus! He said he'd be back!" came a rough female voice from inside, and looking past, she was able to see a fish looking woman, shouting from over a couch. Alex vaguely remembered this woman.

"You, Frisk and I can go and bake something and have it ready by their return," Toriel said, putting a hand gently on his shoulder. Frisk shook their head rapidly, making a pouting face. "Now, my child, I am sure these two have much to talk about. You should not get in their way." The small child huffed and looked defeated.

"Hey kiddo, be good for Tori and Pap, I'll be back soon," Sans said, ruffling Frisk's hair, and the child grinned a bit. Finally, Sans and Alex were able to leave. Instinctively, they stuck close, as that felt the most comfortable to them. The silence between them wasn't awkward, it was a nice silence, unlike the one that used to fill the air with an eerie feeling. When they were far enough from the house, Sans turned to look at Alex, winking, and said, "I know a shortcut."

"Where're we going?" she asked, taking the hand he had held out for her. Even though he was bones, his hand felt pretty warm.

"You'll see," he gave as an only response.

Alex had no time to think as the world around them shifted so fast it made her head spin, and she fell down from the dizziness. "Geez kid, you read my mind," Sans joked as he sat down next to her. It took a moment for her to gain her senses, but when she did, she realized they were on a hill, looking out to the fading sun. "Whoa, nice view," she said, a breath in awe. Sans nodded in agreement, as once more silence filled them. Though this didn't last long, as Sans cleared his throat, and spoke.

"So, how'd you remember?"

The girl frowned for a moment, thinking, then shrugged. "I didn't really. Not until I ran into the child, Frisk. That's when bits came back. However, before that, all I had was a feeling that I needed to look for someone. Plus, this sweater," she said, grabbing a bit of the blue fabric and holding it. "You want it back?"

Sans shook his head. "Nah, I've got plenty. Do what ya want with it."

Alex nodded, holding onto it for a moment longer and looking down at it. "Does Frisk remember? Or anyone?"

"No," Sans said, not missing a beat. "We're the only ones."

"How come?"

"Because now that timeline never existed, not really."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, looking confused.

"I went to a timeline I was supposed to be dead in. You were never supposed to exist. The kid wasn't going to RESET in that one until you convinced them to. That one, and the one I previously abandoned just vanished. There was too many complications with them, and so the world set itself so it never happened."

"Then... Why can we remember?"

"Simply because we were there. So much could only be done, and I don't even fully remember what happened either. Just like you, bits and pieces..."

Silence filled, as Alex took in the information, looking out at the darkening sky. "So, what now? What happens?"

"Frisk doesn't wanna RESET again. Told me this was the last one."

"Wait, so... This is it?"

"The end of the line," Sans nodded, giving a sigh of relief. "They don't want anyone else hurt. They saved everyone, so they want the world to stay like this. I'm relieved, but in a way, scared."

Alex nodded, smiling a bit. "It's pretty scary knowing this child has RESET the world so many times, and I remember absolutely nothing. I can see why you're scared though... You're much different than when you and I were in the Underground."

"Again, you're reading me, kid."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. So, what do you see this time?"

She thought for a moment, trying to put the words together. "Well... You still carry all of that weight, but... now you seem like you're enjoying yourself a bit more. Those were all your friends and family, right? The ones who... who died?"

He nodded. "They, of course, don't remember anything. I guess that's good though."

"Papyrus... The one with the orange scarf, he's your brother?"

He nodded once more.

"He seems like a nice guy."

"My brother's the coolest," Sans nodded in agreement, causing Alex to snort a bit in laughter, before dying down. "So, if there has always been RESETs, that means I never did anything with my life until now... Scary."

"I guess it's only natural to be scared now, kid. Time's pretty scary."

With the setting sun, cold set upon the Earth, and the sky turned dark. Stars started to appear in the sky, twinkling brightly in the darkness. Alex looked up at them, and nodded. "Told you, much better."

Sans looked over at her, before finally looking upwards. He let out a laugh. "You were right, kid. Pretty cool."

The two looked at the sky for a while, and as their eyes adjusted to the darkness, more stars made themselves visible. They were far from any city, so there was no lights to go and block out the stars in the sky. It was so dark, it was bright.

Alex then began to shiver shortly after the heat the sun had left on the Earth began to disappear. Sans noticed, looked over at her, and said, "You wanna head back now? It's getting pretty cold."

The female, however, shook her head. "No, not yet. It's rare that this happens."

"What?"

"Where I feel fine and at peace."

Sans nodded. "Same here, kid. Put on the sweater then."

"Would you be okay with that?" She asked, now looking at the skeleton.

"It's pretty much yours now, kid. Do what you want with it."

After a moment of mentally debating, she stood up in order to untie the sweater from around her waist and slipped it on. It felt like the most familiar thing ever, even though this was her first time putting it on. Instantly, she was embraced with warmth, and feeling much better, she sat back down on the grass and grinned.

"Better?" He asked, noticing her grin.

"Better," she nodded. The skeleton let out a small breathy laugh, shaking his head as he looked back up at the sky. Eventually, they started talking about the many constellations in the sky, Alex pointing out the ones she knew and could make out. Surprisingly, the skeleton knew some of them himself, at least the more basic and defined ones, and they both tried putting their heads together to make out the ones they both couldn't identify and argued if it even was a known constellation.

After some time, they both agreed it was time to head back, since Toriel had mentioned wanting to make something for when they got back. Sans once more teleported them, and helped Alex to catch herself to prevent her from falling once , she tried claiming that she was getting the hang of it, and Sans laughed in response.

They arrived back at the house, Sans opening the door, and hesitantly, Alex followed in after. Many questions arose when they saw that the female was wearing one of Sans' sweaters, but he just shrugged it off and was easily able to get everyone's attention off of it. That's when she met Undyne, Alphys and Mettaton, three of the other monsters she had seen but hadn't known.

Undyne was very energetic, and actually tried to fight the female human quite a few times, before realizing just how fragile and weak she was and backed off some. Alphys was very timid and shy, however, Alex was able to strike up conversation with her through anime, seeing the many CDs lined on a bookshelf near a television. Mettaton was a charming character, to say the least. He mentioned something about a cousin, Napstablook, who currently was still in the Underground, along with some other monsters, however Mettaton was slowly getting him comfortable with the surface.

She also learned some about Papyrus and Toriel. Toriel was exactly the mother type, as she welcomed them back with pie that her, Frisk and Papyrus had made. She asked Alex some questions, and the two agreed to bake together sometime. At hearing about baking, Papyrus had jumped in with the offer of making spaghetti. "I think you just stole my brothers heart," Sans joked after Alex mentioned being able to cook spaghetti, which caused her to laugh, and also having to promise the taller skeleton brother that she would make it sometime with him.

Sans watched the energetic scene before him, as Alex interacted with every monster happily, everyone laughing and smiling and getting to know one another. For once, he did feel at ease. Knowing that Frisk wasn't going to RESET again made him sigh in relief, feeling as if a huge weight was taken off of him.

"Maybe... this time will be different," he said to himself, shutting his eyes.

"Sans?"

The call of his name didn't register right away in his mind, and he didn't right away make who it was that was calling to him.

"Sans!"

This time, he heard it, hearing his brothers voice. He opened his eyes.

He wished he hadn't.

"Brother! Did you fall asleep at your post AGAIN?!"

Snow covered the ground and in the trees. It was cold. His brother stood before him, arms crossed and looking disappointed.

"Wha-"

 **They were back at Snowdin**.

"What did you just mutter, Sans? You should really keep a better watch on your post! I feel like today shall be the day I capture a human!"

The skeleton felt the crushing weight of realization hit him, as he looked down. His soul shriveled up, and felt foolish for allowing himself to hold onto some hope that the kid would somehow not RESET once more. It was always the same.

"...Y-yeah, Pap... I'll keep my eye-socket out.. Heh.."

 **Another RESET...**

 **Though the story doesn't end here...**

* * *

((Big thank you for everyone who read this, and added it to their favorites/follow! It means so much to me! Trust me, the story doesn't end here, there will be more to come another time, but for now, this is it. I'll be making a new story, which will have various drabbles/chapters for different timelines. This isn't the end of Alex either! Please, send me a review if you can and let me know how you liked it, and if there is anything you'd like to see in upcoming stories. Again, thank you!))


End file.
